KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's capital market reached a significant milestone in 2024, surpassing the RM4 trillion threshold, driven by strong domestic fundamentals that helped overcome complex and multifaceted global economic challenges.
He said these factors underscore the capital market’s sensitivity to external demand volatility, particularly as global trade reconfigures in response to nearshoring trends.“While advanced economies are nearing the end of their tightening cycles, policy divergences in emerging markets to stabilise currencies or counter inflation contribute to heightened uncertainty in global financial markets.
Malaysia also has a few more in the pipeline to achieve a total of 55 IPOs by year-end, continuing to outperform its Southeast Asian peers so far this year in terms of count.Abdul Wahid is also optimistic about the outlook for 2025, citing a robust pipeline of IPOs and an active capital market. Mohd Sedek said for the remainder of 2024, the equities market should remain a core focus, particularly in high-growth sectors such as technology, healthcare, and consumer discretionary.
Although this effect is usually short-term, it could help push the FBM KLCI higher, provided that the broader economic conditions remain supportive.While the Malaysian government bonds are stabilising, both domestic corporate bonds and sukuk have become more attractive compared to US bonds following the Federal Reserve's first rate cut in four years in September.
Furthermore, he said that Malaysian bonds are likely to experience less volatility than those of other countries in the region, driven by consistent demand from local investors,” he said. Malaysia has been one of the main beneficiaries of the US-China trade war as the country has seen significant investments from both nations as production chains are closely linked.
“This initiative is expected to organically grow the liquidity in the market, providing a more stable and substantial pool of funds for investment. By broadening the EPF base, the government aims to enhance the capital market's resilience and attract more investors,” he said.